*American retailers desperate to foist their inferior goods on the British!
Pick up your skirts and run for the trenches!
http://www.britishdesigninnovation.org/?page=newsservice/view&news_id=5503
Inspire or die! (((The British slogan in the 1950s was "Export or Die," and, as
Brian Aldiss once pointed out, "we died.")))
Ten years ago the UK fashion retail market changed out of all recognition, with the arrival of Zara and Mango and the growth of H&M.
The impact wasn’t simply the arrival of stylish affordable competitors, it was about the response we made to that challenge. UK retail was given a wake up call to react or roll over and the better retailers reacted. (((I wonder what kind of world we would live in if we all just "rolled over" when foreigners arrived to sell us their jazzy, overpriced goods.))) River Island sharpened up its image with a confident flagship on Oxford Street, New Look followed with their own statement of intent, Topshop continued to evolve its Oxford Circus store and many chain stores that had ignored their branded environment suddenly began to look more design-led.
Zara, Mango and H&M are now integrated into our fashion landscape (((see, how hard was that? Just sell me a cheap Spanish-designed/Asian-made T-shirt that reads INTEGRATED INTO OUR FASHION LANDSCAPE and everything's hunky-dory))) and have been joined by the remaining Inditex brands and a cluster of euro-brands. The opening of Westfield London has seen the arrival of many more euro-brands, (((euro-brands buzzing around our heads like flies))) searching out the promise of success offered by a market that had once promised huge turnover and easy profits.
That promise of high volume at good profit has prompted a new wave of imports, not from Europe this time, but from the US. (((Aieeee!))) American fashion brands are dying in their own market, (((double aieee))) with a lack of interest in what they have to sell, and more worryingly, what they have to say to their customers. ((("Eight years of Bush and bling-bling! What were we thinking? Hey customers, if you were stupid enough to buy into that crap, how stupid does that make *us*?")))
Brands like Banana Republic and Kenneth Cole used to be an inspiration to the British, showing great understanding of the power of Brand and its influence on the shopper. (((I wonder why the almighty "Brand" gets capitalized while "euro-brand" is lower-case.))) If anyone travelled to New York pre and post Christmas, they would have seen just how far these brands have fallen, with stores full of heavily discounted stock at peak trading times… people just didn’t want or need it, even at 70% discounts. If it is impossible to give away last season’s classics, how will they tempt people to invest in this season’s new stock? (((Wait a sec – if we're supposed to "invest" in "classics," shouldn't we be buying *second-hand* clothes?)))
So, it seems with the announcement of Anthropology coming to London, (((hide the children))) they see the UK as a potential antidote to their troubles at home. Add them to Abercrombie and Fitch, Brooks Bros, Banana Republic (((at last a wrily-named American retailer comes fully into its own))) and Hollister and we have a wave as significant as the European invasion of the early nineties. Maybe they won’t all flourish but they will have an influence.
We need to respond as positively as we did back then. (((By struggling to differentiate British shirts made in China from American shirts made in China.))) We need to inspire and innovate to retain momentum and loyalty. The UK market may not be as promising as it was last year at this time, but that should spur us on to bolder and stronger statements to ensure we are visible and strong. We are in a global market now and competition is a timely call-to-action. (((Okay, how about an entire new fashion-line specifically devoted to jobless white-collar guys sleeping under bridges? Squatters have been making-do with leftover West German military kit long enough!)))
One direct response to this American invasion is the bold and ambitious launch of Topshop and Topman New York, opening in April 09 on Broadway. This is certainly going to blow the cobwebs off NY fashion, (((I love the idea of cobwebby New York fashion, those creaking, Gothic, out-of-it Manhattanites))) creating an inspired and innovative statement of the brand: very new, very bold, very British. The strongest statement of Topshop outside of Oxford Circus.
David Dalziel
Creative Director
Dalziel and Pow Design Consultants
